A marijuana plant flourishes under grow lights at a warehouse in Denver on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010. More than 40 Colorado jurisdictions considering local rules on medical marijuana this election. Thanks to a new state law allowing local governments more leeway in regulating pot, voters across the state will consider proposed bans on dispensaries or commercial pot-growing operations. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

The city of Aurora could be getting into the pot business — and make itself the exclusive grower and seller of the drug without the worry of private competition.

The City Council on May 20 is set to consider several ways of dealing with Amendment 64, which legalizes recreational marijuana in Colorado. The choices are broad, ranging from banning certain establishments to allowing them.

Another is for Aurora to run the show — from seed to sale.

No other city in the state is known to be considering the latter enterprise, which would give Aurora virtually total control over how pot is grown and sold, similar to state-run liquor stores outside Colorado.

“I think it has some legs,” said Aurora City Councilman Bob Roth, chairman of an ad hoc city committee looking at Amendment 64. “But I don’t know how realistic it is.”

The city-run ordinance would create a municipal enterprise giving Aurora the power to operate marijuana establishments in “15 physical facilities,” according to the option’s wording.

All establishments would be required to grow and sell marijuana themselves instead of buying the product from an outside source.

Also, all private retailers and growers would be barred from setting up shop in Aurora.

The city could appoint a “director of marijuana establishments” and oversee all aspects of the “production, testing, product packaging and retail stores,” City Attorney Charlie Richardson said.

The other ordinances under consideration would prohibit marijuana establishments and marijuana membership clubs; would prohibit retail marijuana stores and marijuana membership clubs; and would allow marijuana establishments in “prescribed zones.”

As for Aurora growing and selling its own, University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin isn’t sure that such a proposal is permitted under Amendment 64, which allows for the growth, sale and use of marijuana by people ages 21 and older.

Recreational marijuana is already in a tenuous place with the federal government, Kamin said, given that in the eyes of the feds, any marijuana — medical or recreational — is a violation of federal law.

“What’s really clear is that it would be a really bad idea,” Kamin said. “If you want to raise the ire of the federal government, this is exactly what I would do.”

The city-run plan also contradicts the spirit of Amendment 64, said Christian Sederberg, who was on the Amendment 64 campaign and on a state task force regarding regulations for recreational marijuana.

This issue was discussed during task-force meetings but was never recommended, Sederberg said.

The state legislature now is racing toward the end of the session Wednesday, approving new rules and regulations for recreational marijuana virtually every day, he said. Those should cover most of Aurora’s concerns, should it decide to create a municipal enterprise for recreational marijuana.

The new rules for recreational marijuana need to be implemented by July 1, and the first requests for marijuana licenses can start in October.

“What the campaign and the amendment itself envision is responsible private citizens having licenses to provide marijuana to adults 21 and over,” Sederberg said. “We’ll have legislation and clarity for (Aurora) very soon.”

By taking total control of recreational marijuana, Aurora would be able to keep profits, although it was not clear whether a cost-benefit analysis has been done.

City Councilwoman Marsha Berzins had not yet had the chance to review each of the four ordinances by Friday afternoon, but she said the one giving the city control would allow it to better track recreational marijuana.

About 60 percent of the constituents in her ward voted in favor of Amendment 64, so she said she plans to study each one carefully.

“In any of the four areas we vote on,” she said, “I have to seriously consider it.”

Carlos Illescas had been with The Denver Post since 1997 before leaving in June 2016. He had worked as a reporter covering the suburbs and was a weekend editor. He previously worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Aspen Daily News and graduated from Colorado State University in 1991.

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